Welcome to HY381! This is one of my latest class experiments. History majors go on to many different types of jobs; only a relatively small percentage become professional historians. Therefore, we should get familiar with the types of technologies and genres of writing you may encounter outside the classroom. Hence, this blog exists.

Your assignment this semester is two-fold.

First, you need to listen to at least one (1) of the BBC podcasts posted on Course Connect. These are all from the show In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg (http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/iot). There are a lot of them posted – you only need to listen to one! Then you need to write a polished blog post for this site on the basis of the podcast. These should be at least 300 words long. This can be a summary of the podcast contents, your response to the podcast, further research you did on the topic, etc. You can write pretty much anything as long as it indicates somehow that you actually listened to the podcast. Note that I will be asking a question about whatever podcast you chose on your mid-term. Be sure to properly cite (in text) any quotations, paraphrases, summaries, or images that you use in your blog post. Your first blog post is due prior to the class held before the mid-term.

Second, you need to write a second blog post too. This can either be some topic somehow related to something in British history between 10,000 BC and 1689 or it can be a second podcast post. You can pick. In either case, your second post also needs to be at least 300 words long and properly cite (in text) any quotations, paraphrases, summaries, or images that you use. Your second blog post is due prior to the class held before the final exam. Some question related to your blog post will appear on your final exam.

If you do more than the two required blog posts, I will give you extra credit (amount depending on the quality of the posts) in the discussion / participation category. Making substantial comments on the posts of your classmates will also earn extra credit.

Have fun! (as a mode of comparison, this post is about 360 words long)